Renee' Baker Among Honorees at 16th Annual Black Music Month Breakfast of Vivian G. Harsh Society, 9 AM Saturday, June 29, 2013

Renee' Baker

Upcoming Events for the Vivian G. Harsh Society
The 16th Annual Black Music Month Breakfast
Excellence in Music and Community Service
Theme: "Music: A Pathway to Civility"
Saturday, June 29, 2013
9:00 – 11:30 am
Doors open at 8:30am
Apostolic Church of God Banquet Hall
6320 South Dorchester Avenue, Chicago, IL

Tickets: $40 each

Honorees include:

Renee Baker, Composer & Musician
William James, Jr., Musician & Actor
Selena Williams, Musician & Visual Artist
Silas Woods, Chicago Police Officer
Arcilla Stahl, Retired Administrator

Guest Speaker: Jashed Fakhrid-Deen, Educator
Keynote Speaker: Renee Baker
Master of Ceremonies: Clifford Kelley

For more information, please call the Society: 312-544-9188 or email VGHS

Renee' Baker

Principal Violist, Co-Founder/Project Manager - Project Inclusion, Chicago Sinfonietta
Musical Conductor and Artistic Director of the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project

A stellar list of Chicago leaders will be honored, including Renee Baker, composer, former director and curator of the Chicago Sinfonietta Chamber Ensemble, who will receive the Charles E. Walton Award. Baker, who is also Director of CMOP, the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project and Mantra Blue Free Orchestra, will serve as keynote speaker. Jashed Fakhrid-Deen, chair of mathematics and the CIS Department at Harold Washington College, will serve as guest speaker.

Baker will focus her address on the "The Spellbinding Effect of Black Womenin Music". Noted for her masterful improvisation, Baker has utilized some of the finest classical musicians the world has known as well as jazz greats and crafted a group of the best traditionalists and married them to dedicated improvisers. She has performed and recorded with Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble, Karl E. H. Seigfried's New Quartet and Galaxy String Quartet, the David Boykin Expense, Orbert Davis, George Lewis, Mwata Bowden, the Great Black Music Ensemble, the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic and the Chicago Jazz Orchestra. She is a member of the Chicago Chapter of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians.